The Curative Powers of Soap Operas
by Taryo88
Summary: Alec woke up slowly, taking his time in the stage between dreaming and waking refusing to open his eyes. There were no lights on beyond his eyelids and no sounds besides Magnus's breathing coming from the bed behind him, so why had he woken up? - Basically a domestic oneshot of Magnus having to take care of a sick Alec, what's not to love?


Once again, I'm not sure how cannon this could be because I don't know the truth of how often shadowhunters get sick, but it was a cute idea born from some strange headcannons by me and Cassie so I wrote it anyway. I actually wrote this 50% because I wanted to and 50% as a Christmas gift for Cassie. That being said, MERRY CHRISTMAS CASSIE (and whoever else may be reading this) I HOPE YOU LIKE IT!

* * *

Alec woke up slowly, taking his time in the stage between dreaming and waking refusing to open his eyes. There were no lights on beyond his eyelids and no sounds besides Magnus's breathing coming from the bed behind him, so why had he woken up? He became aware of a sticky feeling in his throat, and he was uncomfortably hot underneath the arm Magnus had thrown around his stomach. Alec reluctantly opened his eyes, which felt like they had been crusted closed.

 _Oh no,_ he thought as his stomach churned violently.

Closing his mouth around a gag, he fumbled with the blankets, tossing Magnus's arm none too kindly off of himself as he tumbled off the bed. Had he been paying attention, Alec would have heard the warlock grunt at the manhandling subjected to him, but as the ground pounded bruises into the shadowhunter's knees he was more concerned with not making a mess of his boyfriend's authentic Persian rug than the small inconvenience of upsetting Magnus's beauty sleep.

Alec attributed the speed with which he rolled up from the floor and raced to the bathroom to his shadowhunter training, the move being so natural that he didn't have to waste energy on thinking about it. His speed was quite the blessing because he had barely positioned himself above the toilet before the first dry heave racked his body, sending a vicious shiver down his spine. By the time the second dry heave hit, his hair was already plastered to his temples and forehead with sweat. The third heave was no longer dry, and when it was over, there was a burning in the back of Alec's throat and he was breathing like he'd just fought off a horde of Ravener demons. So, of course, that was the moment Magnus decided to saunter in.

"Alexander?"

The warlock's voice sounded tired and far away. Alec glanced up from under his bangs and watched as Magnus's face went from exhaustion to horror to worry and finally landed on a hesitating expression that made Alec think that Magnus had never been in this situation before. Despite everything, this fact amused Alec who couldn't fathom how someone he'd seen fight off any number off horrible creatures without batting a glitter covered eye could be rendered uncertain by one sick shadowhunter.

He smiled faintly, a weak upwards flick of the corners of his mouth really, and spoke through the fire that was making a mess of his esophagus, "I'm fine, Magnus, go back to be-"

A gag cut off Alec's raspy words and he turned away from Magnus in favor of the toilet bowl in front of him. When Alec could finally spare a look to where his boyfriend had been standing, the space was decidedly empty.

 _Good,_ he thought, setting his head lightly on the edge of the toilet, _I would hate to keep Magnus up over something this stupid._ And it was stupid. Alec knew exactly why he was sick and it was totally Jace's fault.

Shadowhunters, as a rule, don't get sick often. There was something to do with the angel blood coursing through their veins that makes them more resistant than mundanes to common illnesses. But resistance doesn't mean complete immunity, so after Jace practically dragged his parabatai around the pediatric ward of an uptown hospital where a terrible outbreak of the flu was raging through the halls so they could hunt one measly Eidolon demon that had been staking out weak children, Alec was not at all surprised to find himself heaving over a toilet a few days later.

Another huge shudder ran down Alec's body and he was shocked to feel something blessedly cold be placed on the back of his neck. He jerked in surprise and looked up with wide eyes to see a pair reminiscent to a cat's gleaming back at him.

Magnus had wandered back into the bathroom, unnoticed by Alec, with a damp cloth and a large bowl. "Come on, Alec," Magnus said lightly, moving his hand from the cloth he placed on Alec's neck to snake his arm across the shadowhunter's shoulders, "I know my bathroom is magnificent, but the couch is probably much more comfortable than tile."

Without allowing for arguments, the warlock hooked his hands under Alec's armpits and tugged him up from the floor. Alec's feverish body protested the movement and he stumbled quite embarrassingly and probably would have immediately ended up back on the floor had Magnus not been there to stabilize him.

"I'm fine," Alec mumbled, trying futilely to push away from his boyfriend and stand on his own, but his voice sounded unconvincing and far away even to his own ears. Magnus responded by rolling his eyes and tightening the hold he had on Alec's shoulders as he all but pushed him out of the bathroom, down the hall, and into the living room, finishing with a flourish as he sat Alec kindly, but forcefully, onto the leather couch that was a part of the current theme of the apartment. Clearly, the moment of hesitation the warlock had earlier was long gone.

Alec meant to protest some more, but his thoughts were coming sluggishly and his eyelids kept drooping. His stomach was by no means settled; but he didn't feel like it was trying to jetpack its way out of his body anymore so that was a plus. He thought he heard Magnus saying something about the bowl being charmed, but having ears full of cotton kind of made it hard for Alec to listen or care. He had been staring mildly out towards the middle of the room ever since Magnus sat him down, an event that seemed simultaneously as though it occurred minutes and hours ago to the sick shadowhunter, when between one slow blink and the next a set of golden cat eyes appeared inches from Alec's own.

Alec was startled but assumed his fatigue hid it well. If he barely had enough energy to keep his eyes open, there was no way his body would be strong enough to flinch.

The cat eyes were blurring out of focus. Alec had the vague feeling that he should have been saying something in lieu of the question in them, but as his shoulders slumped and his sweaty forehead closed the distance to lean against a cool one, the only thing that slipped through his lips was a hoarse whisper before he closed his eyes and was lost to the world.

"Meow."

‡‡

Magnus hadn't known what to expect when he was rudely awakened at three in the morning, but a flu-ridden boyfriend had never been on the list of possibilities. And now there he was, watching bad soap operas on TV with Alec's sweaty forehead in his lap as the shadowhunter napped through his fever.

When he first walked into the bathroom to find Alec on the tile, hopelessly sick, Magnus had been shell-shocked. He didn't do domestic. He didn't do caretaker. He definitely didn't do sick.

But what he did do was Alec.

There was no way he was going to just leave Alec there no matter what the pathetic kid had said, flashing Magnus those pleading blue eyes. He had moved swiftly into the cramped kitchen in his apartment to grab a bowl, which he charmed to empty all its contents immediately into the dumpster, and an old dishrag that he didn't even know he had. He soaked the rag in cool water then hurried back to the bathroom to find Alec in an even more wretched position than before he left.

The warlock started forward then paused a few steps into the doorway. _Can I do this? Can I take care of him? Do I know how?_

The hesitation was brief because it came with a sudden realization. He'd been dealing with any number of shadowhunters, from stubborn to whiny to clingy to rude, for hundreds of years. He could handle one measly bout of the flu.

And that's how he'd ended up here.

Magnus was carding his fingers lightly through Alec's hair, which was annoyingly soft even though it was full of sweat, when he felt Alec stir slightly. Glancing down, Magnus was startled to already be staring directly into a set of fever-bright, blue eyes.

The warlock smirked down at his boyfriend, quirking a brow and placing his hand lightly on Alec's forehead, "How was the beauty sleep?"

"I didn't say anything stupid, did I?"

Magnus blinked. "What?"

Alec's voice sounded scratchy but much stronger than it had the night before, "Last night. When I had my fever."

"Technically you still have your fever."

"Well yeah, but last night it was worse. I don't really remember what happened, but last time I was this sick…" Alec's cheeks had a flush that was definitely from more than the fever at this point, making Magnus smile, "I apparently," he coughed uncomfortably, "Um, you know what, never mind."

"Oh no, Alexander," There was a spark in the warlock's eyes that was a tale tell sign that he was not giving this up, "you started this, now you have to stick with it."

Alec started to sit up and then groaned which lead to a fit of coughing. Magnus pressed a cool glass of water that most definitely hadn't been in the room seconds ago into his boyfriend's hand. Alec gulped the water down faster than he probably should have, but with his voice sounding so scratchy Magnus couldn't bring himself to tell him to slow down.

"Don't think this pathetic show is going to make me forget that you were totally about to embarrass yourself."

Alec chuckled weakly and leaned against Magnus. He was still blushing, but he didn't waste any more time hedging and instead told his story with the efficiency so characteristic of him. "Last time I was this sick I was about twelve years old, and apparently I recited the entire parabatai section of the shadowhunter's codex but replaced every mention of 'parabatai' with the word 'para-butt-ai'."

"Oh ho, hung up on Jace even then. That's sad." Magnus felt a little bad for picking on Alec when he still clearly didn't feel well, but the opening was too great to pass up.

Alec flushed stronger at the needling, but his eyes stayed steady as he looked at Magnus, "So I didn't say anything stupid?"

"I definitely did not say that."

An expression somewhere between wariness and horror passed across the shadowhunter's face at that, but before he could ask anything more about it, Magnus shushed him. "Don't worry about it, it was endearing, now lay back down and watch TV with me. You need the rest."

"No, I can't, I'm supposed to go to the institute to help my mom with some-"

Magnus waved his hand, interrupting him, "Jace will do it. You have a fever and have thrown up just about everything you've eaten in the past week, if you seriously think I am going to let you leave this apartment then your fever must be worse than I thought."

Alec's face twisted into something that Magnus assumed was supposed to be a glare, but between the sickness and the expression on Magnus's own face, which he was proud to say was one he had perfected to be the epitome of the phrase "don't try me", the glare was relatively lackluster.

Alec let out a huffed breath and laid his head back down in Magnus's lap. "I'll only stay if you tell me what I said."

"Pardon me if a threat from someone who can't even sit up for longer than a minute without getting tired doesn't really compel me to do much." Magnus glanced down at his boyfriend, but he was already asleep.

‡‡

It was around noon when the doorbell to Magnus's apartment rang. The warlock glanced at Alec before going to answer it, but the shadowhunter was in no state to notice his leaving. Magnus was pretty sure he already knew who would be on the other side of the door, and when it was opened to reveal the blond head of Jace Herondale, his suspicions were confirmed.

Jace wasted no time with hellos and instead stepped past Magnus into the apartment. "Where's Alec? I had to deal with Maryse all alone this morning because he skived out."

Magnus smiled coyly and winked, "Don't be too mad. It wasn't his fault, I was keeping him busy."

The warlock's attempt to rattle the snarky boy in front of him would have been more successful if Alec hadn't chosen half way through the jibe to start yelling from the other room.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE LEAVING, TRISHA?! WE ALL KNOW YOU LOVE HIM!"

Jace blinked at Magnus as a fit of coughing followed the outburst from the living room before striding towards his parabatai with the sliding grace of shadowhunters. Magnus followed more slowly, already knowing that what he would see when he entered the room would be the same as when he left: Alec sitting wrapped in a huddle of blankets on the leather couch, staring in rapt attention at the television which had been playing rerun episodes of some mundane soap opera since Alec woke up at eight that morning still sporting a slight fever.

Alec didn't even glance over as the pair entered the room, and instead of looking perplexed by the sight, as Magnus might have expected, Jace simply looked resigned. "Is he sick? He gets weird when he's sick."

At that, Alec finally took his eyes off the TV long enough to glare, "I do not get weird!"

"Hate to break this to you, Alec," Jace started as he plopped down into an armchair, "but you are far from the norm when it comes to being sick. I would know, as your _para-butt-ai."_

The comment elicited an amused chuckle from Magnus as Alec glared and stuck his tongue out at his best friend, the childish response making him look even more pathetic while stuck in his cocoon of blankets. "Shut up and let me watch my show."

"Alec," Jace spoke in a placating tone, as if he were talking to a five year old that was throwing a tantrum, "isn't this one of those stupid soap operas with absolutely no logical plot that exist for the sole purpose of entertaining the simple minded people of the mundane world?"

"Maybe."

"Then why are you watching it?"

Alec glanced towards Magnus then shrugged, "It was on when I woke up, and now I'm kind of invested." A sly look crossed his face when he looked back at Jace, "Besides, a lot of the plot lines remind me of the beginning of you and Clary's relationship."

The expression on Jace's face was too much for Magnus. He couldn't help but to laugh, and he could hear Alec's warm laughter matching with his from on the couch. Admittedly, abruptly after it started a gag interrupted Alec's laughter, but the moment was nice regardless. Magnus slid back into his spot next to Alec and patted him on the back while speaking to Jace, "So, are you just here to make fun of the sick person or was there a reason you stopped by?"

The shadowhunter stood up from his lounging position and headed towards the door, "I was really on my way to meet Clary, but Maryse was worried since you didn't call and tell her you weren't going to show this morning, so she strong armed me into checking up on you."

Alec just rolled his eyes and turned up the volume on the TV as soon as the door clicked closed behind Jace.

‡‡

The next morning the sun rose just like every normal morning, and just like he normally did, Alec rose with it. He felt well rested and the heaviness he had felt in his limbs the day before was gone. He cleared his throat quietly a few times to test its soreness, but it was almost as though his bout of sickness had never happened. Detangling himself from his boyfriend's arms, Alec went silently into the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face. He was happy to see that when he looked in the mirror his color was definitely less green than the day before. When he finished, Alec walked back into the bedroom to see Magnus still sleeping soundly.

Watching Magnus sleep was something Alec would never get tired of. Magnus so rarely did anything timidly, that to see him so vulnerable and quiet was almost like a miracle. And yet, even in sleep, Magnus was still Magnus. His face might have been sweet and dreaming, but his legs and arms were all over the place on the bed leaving only the small right edge, that Alec had just vacated, free. Alec never minded being confined to the edge, he was a relatively reserved and light sleeper so it didn't bother him, and he found the way Magnus wrapped himself around the shadowhunter in sleep to be endearing.

Magnus shifted slightly in his sleep allowing Alec the opportunity to sit back down on his side of the bed without disturbing him. The caution the shadowhunter used to not jostle his boyfriend was really just a courtesy, because seeing Magnus's peaceful, sleeping face up close prompted Alec to lean down and lightly brush his lips across the warlock's.

Alec hadn't even finished pulling away when Magnus's hands slid up his back to rest on the hard muscles of his shoulders, "Good morning, Alec." The words came out as a low hum, leaving Magnus's mouth with a reluctance that matched the slow opening of his eyes. "Feeling better?"

Alec's head found its favorite spot on Magnus's shoulder and rested there as the shadowhunter hummed. "Much," he turned his head just enough to place a soft kiss on Magnus's neck, "thanks for taking care of me."

Magnus's hand danced on Alec's bare chest as he responded, "What can I say, I'm just the best boyfriend ever."

Alec chuckled, pushing himself up onto his arm. He looked down at Magnus with a little unease. He had something he wanted – needed – to know, but wasn't sure if asking would yield any benefits or simply make his embarrassment worse. His moment of hesitation did not go unnoticed.

The warlock quirked a singular eyebrow. That was prompt enough for Alec who knew Magnus wasn't the kind of person to let things go. Besides, Alec really did want to know.

"What did I say when I had my fever?"

Alec winced. The look on his boyfriend's face was far from comforting. His eyes seemed to gleam with a hidden secret, and Alec had never seen him look quite so stunningly like a cat. Suddenly, Alec realized he was no longer looking down at Magnus but up at him. The warlock had rolled on top of him, his legs straddling the shadowhunter's hips.

 _Yup, this is definitely going to be worse._

Magnus's hand drew lazy circles across Alec's bicep, his fingers dancing along the scarred skin there. "You really want to know?" Magnus purred against the side of Alec's throat.

It was all Alec could do just to let out a strangled grunt in response. He couldn't have expected any better from himself with Magnus's lips charting a path of red-hot kisses along his neck, each one more mind bogglingly distracting than the last. But he couldn't just roll over like an obedient dog; he was a shadowhunter. If he were Jace, he would have said something sultry in response, something that would make Magnus flustered instead of the other way around. As it was, what Alec ended up saying was closer to a choked, "Tell me what I said," but it was better than nothing.

Magnus seemed to find Alec's sad state to be extremely amusing. He paused in his ravishing of the shadowhunter's neck long enough to let out a breathy chuckle in Alec's ear that only served to cloud his thoughts even more. "Hmm…alright," Magnus drug out the last word, only stopping to gently nibble on Alec's ear lobe.

Another groan made its way past Alec's lips as his head tilted back and he tightened his hands on Magnus's hips despite having no recollection of putting them there. He felt like putty underneath Magnus's expert ministrations. He wondered how he ever made it through mornings without moments like these-

" _Meow_."

Alec's whole body tensed up, his hands dropping from Magnus's waist to lie loosely by his sides on the bed. " _No."_ he whispered.

"Oh yes," the feral gleam was back in Magnus's eyes. To be more accurate, Alec wasn't sure it had ever left, but it seemed much more potent now.

Alec covered his face with his scarred hands and let out a totally different type of groan, "I thought that was a DREAM."

Magnus, who had rolled completely off of his boyfriend, stretched out on his side of the bed heartily laughing. "Oh no, that was no dream, love."

Alec buried his face in the joint of Magnus's neck and shoulder, "Next time I'm sick, just kill me. By the angel, have mercy."

"But if I did that," Magnus began, the sultry purr returning to his words, "then I would lose my best entertainment."


End file.
